Reece James says England red card will ‘make me stronger’ after Chelsea star is sent off on full debut

Sent off: James sees red on full England debut
POOL/AFP via Getty Images
Richard Parry15 October 2020

Reece James remains ‘proud’ of his full England debut despite being shown a red card after the full time whistle.

The sending off capped a difficult evening for England. Three days on from impressively coming back to beat Belgium, Christian Eriksen fired home a controversially-awarded penalty to seal a 1-0 victory in front of empty stands at Wembley .

Frustration boiled over after the final whistle as Chelsea star James was sent off for dissent after confronting the referee.

The 20-year-old took ‘full responsibility’ for his actions, but believes the incident will help make him stronger.

Writing on Instagram, he said: “Tonight’s game was full of emotion, desire and hunger. Proud to have made my full senior debut in such a testing game."

“I take full responsibility for the red card after the final whistle. Moments like this will make me stronger, I’ll continue to put in 100% day in day out to keep improving!

“Thank you for your continued support, I love you all!“

Gareth Southgate indicated that he would be speaking with James regarding the ‘unacceptable’ incident, but was also quick to praise his performance.

"The sending off at the end I'm told was for dissent, so that's obviously something as a young player he has to recognise is not acceptable," Southgate said of the Chelsea youngster.

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"I thought his individual performance was outstanding with and without the ball. The opening half an hour, him and his combinations with Mason (Mount), Kyle (Walker) and the midfield players really opened them up.”

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